“Walking Dead” season finale grumble thread: Rick’s mad as hell and he’s not going to take it anymore

posted at 7:31 pm on March 31, 2014 by Allahpundit

Let’s get the praise out of the way: I liked what they did with the flashbacks. It’s a neat trick to kill off a major character — a beloved major character — earlier in the season and then shove him back in front of an unsuspecting audience after they’ve made peace with his loss. Never did I like Hershel as much as I liked him last night; it was a clever way to make the viewer feel Rick’s own grief. At first I was left wondering why, after the encounter with the rednecks, Rick would be flashing back to life at the prison rather than to the serenity of life before the zombie apocalypse with Lori and Carl. Then I remembered: No one liked Lori, Rick apparently included. He’d actually rather daydream about growing vegetables while surrounded by flesh-eating monsters than about his dearly departed wife. I also admired their guts in broaching the subject of rape in the redneck scene. There’d be a lot of that in a world as brutal as zombie Earth but the writers, for understandable reasons, have stayed away from it for fear of being accused of exploitation. (Offhand, Shane’s attack on Lori a few seasons ago is the only instance that I can remember.) Making a child the intended victim was even bolder, although you knew the attempt would be thwarted somehow.

So much for that. I feel like a chump after having wondered last week whether, maybe, possibly, if we’re lucky, Rick might be the major character who ends up dead in the season finale. In hindsight, that was foolish. Last night’s episode made clear that this isn’t a show about the zombie apocalypse or even about how people deal with the zombie apocalypse. It’s a show about Rick, whom the writers love unapologetically no matter how bored the rest of us get with him. The theme of last night’s ep was supposed to be Rick’s psychological journey from reluctant leader to coldly ruthless survivor, a la Walter White. But the big set piece, in which poor Carl nearly gets the “Deliverance” treatment from some hooting redneck, didn’t really bring that home. We were, I think, supposed to be horrified on some level at what Rick’s become (again, a la Walter White), but the circumstances of that scene didn’t lend themselves to that. Of course Rick would behave viciously, including tearing out a guy’s jugular with his teeth, to save himself from being shot in the face. Of course he’d savagely murder a man who intended to rape his child. None of this signals a mental or moral break of any kind; it’s all self-defense or defense of an innocent. If he’d had a gun in his hand and had declined to use it because he wanted to use his teeth on the redneck-in-chief, that would have meant something. As it is, what was he supposed to do?

The real significance of that scene to me was as a declaration by the writers that they will not, under any circumstances, kill Rick off. No matter how difficult the situation, no matter how implausible that anyone could survive it, Rick’s coming out alive. Absorb this: You had a gang of battle-hardened men armed to the teeth ambush him, Michonne, and Carl, hold guns held to their temples, and actually begin a countdown to blowing Rick’s brains out — and somehow Rick’s entire crew emerged unscathed while the rednecks were disarmed and slaughtered. They might as well have had a bullet bounce off his chest. The final line in the train car at the end was almost a joke on his own invulnerability: Of course the Terminus gang messed with the wrong people — they messed with Rick from “The Walking Dead.” He could kill all of them with his bare hands and still have enough left to knock Batman out, and probably will before next season’s opener is over. It got so bad last night that at first I thought the snipers at Terminus were trying to kill Rick when they were shooting at him from the rooftops; it seemed perfectly logical on this show that a guy armed with a machine gun firing from 15 yards away somehow wouldn’t be able to hit Our Hero despite using his best aim. I finally realized that they were shooting at him simply to make him run towards the train car (hence the heavy-handed metaphor about the rabbit trap earlier in the show), but that’s where we are on this show now. It’s a Rambo movie with Rick in the title role. I actually thought at one point last night, when he was burying the arms cache outside the walls of Terminus and looking a bit too long at some of his guns, that maybe he was thinking about suicide. That would have been a gut-wrenching but satisfying end to the character; no one could stop the show’s hero except himself, once he’d been irretrievably shattered by the brutality of the world around him. I don’t think there’s been another show on American television that’s had its main character commit suicide. This would have been pioneering. But no, nothing so interesting as that. Rick just wanted to protect his guns before another raid on another defended site.

As it turned out, no one of consequence was offed. (On the contrary, Hershel was brought back to life, so to speak.) I kept thinking it was coming — first during the redneck scene, then when the Terminus crew was herding Rick et al., into the train car, and then inside the train car itself. When they first went into the car, I thought the big reveal was going to be the rest of the gang — Glenn, Maggie, etc — dead and hanging from meat hooks, prepared to be turned into supper for the camp. Imagine that uppercut. Then, when someone began moving in the shadows, I thought maybe Glenn and the rest had turned into zombies and had been corraled by the Terminus people in the train car for whatever reason. That would have been a killer cliffhanger, Rick and Michonne forced to kill their now-dead friends in order to save themselves. Nope. Turns out Glenn and the gang are perfectly fine, just hanging out until Rick gets there and they hatch a master plan to somehow disarm and kill a few dozen heavily armed captors that’ll definitely work. (Maybe a major character will die in next season’s opener, a la the amazing head fake with Kate Mara’s character in season two of “House of Cards.”) It occurred to me that one satisfying ending that would have been true to the “Rick has changed” theme would have been to have Rick, Michonne, and Daryl kill a bunch of Terminus people on suspicion that something evil was going on — only to find out that the people there were sincere in wanting to help new arrivals find safety and sustenance. It would have been Rick’s paranoia, fostered by endless brutality, that blew their chance at what would have been a welcoming community. But no, clearly there is something evil going on — cannibalism was implied with a brief shot of human skeletons — and now we’re left to wonder for months. That’s supposed to be a cliffhanger but it really isn’t because Rick’s already promised to kick ass and take names and, per the rules of the show, when Rick’s in beast mode he’s as irresistible as a tornado. It’s not a cliffhanger, it’s a Rickhanger. Meh.

I checked Twitter after the show expecting to find grumbles about how nothing was resolved, no one died, and we didn’t find out a thing about the big mystery of Terminus after a season-long tease, but all it was was a bunch of “CAN’T EVEN CATCH MY BREATHE” [sic] tweets. The ratings are stratospheric. Nothing’s going to change. Why would it?

Blowback

Trackbacks/Pings

Comments

7) Why is Gareth so insistent that the sniper not shoot Rick? Seems like a lot of work just to keep one body fresh. Instead Gareth insists he can handle things, which is very reminiscent of when Daryl hits the leader of the gang and the leader tells everyone to back off — because he wants Daryl to join.

The only person with true leadership qualites is Carol, who has grown from abused wife to clear thinking leader. The pack desperately misses Merle’s inspired humanism.

kingsmill on March 31, 2014 at 9:25 PM

I brought this up last week. The strongest characters are the females including Carol and Michonne. I guess that as a King County deputy sheriff Rick became a de-facto leader in the beginning because he had that stupid hat and represented law and order. Well, while Rick was growing vegetables, Carol was teaching survival skills to the children.

I would disagree with you that Carol is the only one with true leadership abilities. But, and this goes against the idea that Rick is the most fierce of warriors because he has his family along for the ride. Some of the others who have lost far more are the real warriors among the farm/prison tribe.

I brought this up last week. The strongest characters are the females including Carol and Michonne. I guess that as a King County deputy sheriff Rick became a de-facto leader in the beginning because he had that stupid hat and represented law and order. Well, while Rick was growing vegetables, Carol was teaching survival skills to the children.

Happy Nomad on March 31, 2014 at 9:59 PM

Yes and giving Lizzie a weapon and teaching her how to use it was a fantastic idea. I’m sure Mikah would totally agree….

Carol is clearly as unstable as Rick or the Governor and just needs the push to go far beyond both of them.

That’s an Englishman trying to imitate a Georgia accent. But also appropriate if Carl doesn’t man up soon.

This whole Carl coming of age crap annoys me because I would have thought the whole zombie thing would have shortened the “growing up theme.” Rick/Carl/Lori/plus child I can’t remember the name of…. This was the only pre-walker family to survive intact. Yet, despite that fact, Rick seems to be raising Carl as if he was about to be going to the prom instead of getting him ready to live in a world of walkers.

Yes and giving Lizzie a weapon and teaching her how to use it was a fantastic idea. I’m sure Mikah would totally agree….

Carol is clearly as unstable as Rick or the Governor and just needs the push to go far beyond both of them.

mjk on March 31, 2014 at 10:18 PM

Oh come on! You think all of the non-walkers are going to relate to the new reality with sanity?

I moved to New Orleans five months after Hurricane Katrina. A pack of ferral dogs made up of former house pets was roaming my neighborhood. It was as close to the TWD world as you could get.

I can’t adequately express this but New Orleans was a city in need of group therapy. People were still in a different mode of viewing the world. They were doing stuff that didn’t make sense because they were working from a different reality. Much like Lizzie.

Making a child the intended victim was even bolder, although you knew the attempt would be thwarted somehow. So much for that.

:shock: So… you are bummed that a child rape did not happen (albeit fiction)? Wow and Ew.

…if we’re lucky, Rick might be the major character who ends up dead in the season finale.

No. He’s one of my favorite characters. I’m not bored with him, either.

I find it interesting to see how he (and the other people) deal with each other, the zombies, scrounging for food and supplies, and how their personalities change (or even do not change) from crisis to crisis.

AP said,

Of course he’d savagely murder a man who intended to rape his child. None of this signals a mental or moral break of any kind; it’s all self-defense or defense of an innocent

It couldn’t be both?

AP said,

As it is, what was he supposed to do?

Tearing someone’s throat open with their teeth would not, IMO, occur to most people, which is why a lot of folks in the audience found it shocking.

I think Rick biting the guy’s throat out was also meant to symbolize how similar the living people are to the zombies. I think a zombie ripped T-Dog’s throat out in a previous episode.

AP said,

They might as well have had a bullet bounce off his chest…
Of course the Terminus gang messed with the wrong people — they messed with Rick from “The Walking Dead.” He could kill all of them with his bare hands….
It’s a Rambo movie with Rick in the title role….

I think you may be over stating your case a little. I don’t have a problem with Rick not being killed off.

I like the character. It’s odd, IMO, to root for his death.

He’s basically a decent guy, especially compared to the freaks he keeps running into, such as the ruthless Governor, the child-raping dudes (the one guy in the “Claim” gang).

It’s nice to see a guy who is essentially and usually decent, who struggles from time to time with how violent to get to defend his family, friends, or himself. He also at times fails to help people.

There was a stint of time when Rick was so bummed out over his wife’s death, he didn’t bother to help that orange backpack guy who begged for help, and on last night’s show, Rick did not let his son help the eye-glasses guy who was attacked by a mob of zombies.

Rick is not quite Rambo, btw.

After eye-patch wearing Governor beat the snot out of him in the prison yard, Rick was unconscious for an entire episode (he was knocked out on a sofa in an abandoned house while his son looked for food).

In addition, Rick was on the mend in bed in the next show (the one where Joe and the Claim gang showed up), and he was still recovering in last night’s show (Michonne asked him early on if they should stay in camp another day, so he could rest up and heal some more).

AP said,

that maybe he was thinking about suicide. That would have been a gut-wrenching but satisfying end to the character; no one could stop the show’s hero except himself, once he’d been irretrievably shattered by the brutality of the world around him

That makes no sense for the character, is plain weird, and I think your hatred for the character is irrational.

AP said,

I don’t think there’s been another show on American television that’s had its main character commit suicide. This would have been pioneering. But no, nothing so interesting as that.

Why would you say all that, when in plenty of previous shows, they have shown corpses who were suicide victims?

There was the family who killed themselves a handful of episodes ago in the house – Michonne found their dead bodies, adults and kids, laying in beds in a pink-colored kid bedroom.

There was the suicide Walker hanging from a tree in season 1 or 2.

Andrea asked Daryl to shoot the hanged man and put it down, and Daryl balked at first, but then did as she requested.

The Walker (prior to the hanging) even left a note nailed to the tree that said, “World gone to s— everyone bit…” etc.

There were what appeared to be suicide vics in the fancy country club/ golf club that Beth and Daryl were in about three, four episodes ago (they were hanging from the ceiling inside).

The CDC guy and lady committed suicide in the CDC building around season 2, when they stayed inside the CDC and it was rigged to blow up.

Beth wanted to kill herself when they were back on the farm. She was going to cut her wrists with a knife. Andrea was going to kill herself, but Dale talked her out of it.

This show has had plenty of suicides, or has brought the topic up before.

Like Allah Pundit, I was expecting more resolution, as in, for Rick and Co. to show up and find their friends dead and hanging from meat hooks. I had heard so many cannibal rumors prior to the cliff hanger.

I was expecting more resolution than there was. I thought we’d at least find out if Beth was alive or dead or what. I thought it would be more strongly confirmed that the people at Terminus are cannibals, but all we got were a few hints (brief shot of human skeletons, people screaming “help” from the train cars).

This season finale felt more like a mid-season finale than a ‘finale finale.’ That is my one minor quibble with it.

Rick explaining to his son & the Sword girl how to make a rabbit trap. I knew at the point that TERMINUS was a trap. And that they were cannibals.

portlandon on March 31, 2014 at 7:42 PM

I sometimes read the Walking Dead Comics Wiki, and from that learned about the cannibals, and that is how I was tipped off, but even had I not read that wiki, I gotta tell you, when Maggie, Glenn, Sasha and Bob showed up, and that lady was standing in front of that huge grill with all the meat, and she was like, “can I fix ya all a plate”…

…and knowing how sometimes the Rick gang had a hard time finding any food, yet these Terminus people had this great big BBQ going on, Beth had just been kidnapped….

It crossed my mind that maybe they were killing and eating people who showed up to Terminus (and those were Beth Burgers on the grill), because where in the heck did that lady get all that meat from?

And Terminus seemed too good to be true, with the pretty potted plants, the big umbrellas over the tables. Terminus seemed even creeper than Woodbury.

Isn’t it implied that Beth is dead? I thought at least they’d find her corpse or some indication that she’d been eaten by the Terminus cannibals.

blue13326 on March 31, 2014 at 7:43 PM

They did not address that in the finale.

They only had a few very brief hints that Terminus was a group of cannibals, such as a brief camera shot of a bunch of human skeletons laying on the ground that Rick, Carl, Michonne, and Daryl ran past.

Rick spotted some paper plates and what others online said were boxes of powdered milk laying outside the train car (the idea being the Terminus guys were fattening up their prisoners).

I’m glad you explained they were herding them into the train. I couldn’t figure out how they could miss.

Alana on March 31, 2014 at 7:47 PM

They made that clear in the show. At one point (I think in the room with all the candles, Michonne tells Rick, “They are not trying to kill us…”

She figured out the Terminus guys were herding them, not trying to kill them. If Terminus killed them, they would turn into zombies and not be edible. I guess that is why they keep them alive and herd them into train cars. You want them fresh and alive right before slaughter and BBQing.

Now, to be fair to Hershel, he wasn’t advising Rick to be a farmer for warm and fuzzies.

Hershel was concerned that Carl (Rick’s son) had shot an unarmed kid in the face and felt no remorse the previous season.

Hershel was scared the kid was turning into a psycho and felt if the kid had peaceful, plant crops and one on one time with dear old dad that he would become normal and not turn into wacko Shane or wacko, evil Governor.

1-If they wake Rick up at the end of the show, it will be from a coma. Lots of potential elements to that happening such as a few weeks ago when his son was yelling at him to wake up and he didn’t budge. Wouldn’t worry about that until the last episode though.

2-If they kill Rick before then, I imagine it being in the last season as a martyr to get his kids to the promised land. Don’t see them killing him off before then unless he begs off the show.

3-I see Beth having been kidnapped by yet unseen weasels and being put into sex slavery. She will be rescued by the crew mid season next year and be a changed person. Speaking of rape, they came kinda close there with Maggie and the Gov. Next season they are going there.

4-Maybe its just me, but I get ticked off every time anybody says that Carl did the wrong thing shooting that kid. He did right by blowing him away. Ask the lezbo soldier whether kids can kill. Dude was about to kill Carl and the old man and Beth. Best move anybody has done in the whole show was Carl’s decision at that time. Yet the show wants us to think it was wrong?

5-Terminus=soylent green. The dude said they set this place up shortly after everything went down. That was nearly two years ago. Lots of signs telling people to come. All of Ricks peeps come. Rick and his gang run around the whole joint. Yet where are all the people? No kids. No old people. Maybe 20 total. The place is a freakin meat plant. Ricks gang are cattle waiting for the slaughter. Thankfully, the guy named Albert will be the weak link.

I wondered why Rick didn’t split the group up – maybe have himself and Michonne go in and scout the place out, and leave Daryl and Carl outside the gates.

I would have spent far more time scoping the place out from outside the fence, and then, after sneaking in, I would have hidden behind boxes and junk and spied on people a good long time before introducing myself to Terminus.

In the show’s defense they only have one hour. Had they showed that amount of sneaking, it would’ve taken 2, 3 hours.. unless the did a montage or something.

I don’t completely understand why Rick buried his gun bag if there is no Team Rick member outside the fence to un-bury and retrieve it if need be.

Tyreese and Carol, with baby Judith in tow, have yet to make it to Terminus. I can only assume their arrival leads to a massive upheaval, as they’ll have a baby and not just adults and a teenager. With the maybe cannibals be able to ruthlessly deliver knowing full well they’ll be risking the death of a baby?

I did not support Carl shooting the kid. The kid was handing his gun over and Carl just shot him. There was no need for it, even Hershel agreed.

TigerPaw on March 31, 2014 at 11:57 PM

Cark told him to put the gun down. Instead, the guy said here, take it, all while giving evaluating eyes to the 3 people he was facing. Know doubt I shoot him. He was at war with my side and armed and failed commands while not looking afraid but calculating.

Who would want Maggie’s old dirty poncho?
Blake on March 31, 2014 at 8:12 PM

It was of course Daryl’s poncho first, and Glenn gave it to Maggie.

There was an episode where Beth went “clothes shopping” when she was with Daryl in the golf / country club store. Her old tank tops were grungy and filthy, so she chose a new shirt and cardigan at the club store.

I haven’t read the comics themselves but have read about them on the Walking Dead Wiki.

Apparently, there is a group called “Hunters” who are cannibals and a separate storyline involving a clergy person (forget his name).

The clergy guy (in the comics) would not let his church members into the church when they banged on the doors for refuge from the zombies and whatever other evil. He allowed them to be killed outside because he was too selfish or cowardly to open the doors and let them in.

I was wondering if the TV series is combining the two… instead of having them separate, put the religious guy in charge of the cannibals and have some kind of religious aspect to human killing / cannibalism.

Next season, Rick’s either going to have a “conversation” with the Governor ala Lori, or admit to Daryll/Michonne that the Guv was right in his approach to outsiders.

budfox on March 31, 2014 at 8:34 PM

I can’t totally agree with you there.

I think they already resolved that Rick cannot be like the Gov. in previous episodes.

I agree more with someone else above. I think Rick is learning that there has to be a balance, that you can’t be only a pacifist, lovey dovey, go plant crops on a farm, never- ever- use- violence hippie, but on the other hand, you can’t always be a tough, unfeeling, psychotic, totally selfish, authoritarian type who just goes around shooting anyone and everyone in the face and not caring at all about other people, ever.

He was practically crying like a b!tch when the Governor showed up at the fence! I was very disappointed in him there. He should’a unloaded his Python at the governor right there. Consequences be damned.

These wanderers are surrounded by decay and ruin, yet they still yearn to unwind with wanton destruction, e.g. Beth and Daryl’s torching the house in the woods? To heck with these clowns.

derit on March 31, 2014 at 8:42 PM

Not that I would’ve burned the cabin down myself, but they had a reason.

Beth was getting Daryl to bid farewell to his abusive, cruddy upbringing. Burning the cabin down symbolized that, since Daryl had previously told her that cabin was similar to the home he grew up in as a kid.

He was practically crying like a b!tch when the Governor showed up at the fence! I was very disappointed in him there. He should’a unloaded his Python at the governor right there. Consequences be damned.

Lanceman on April 1, 2014 at 12:38 AM

If I am understanding you right. By that point, did the Gov not have Michonne and Hershel, and Rick was trying to find a peaceful solution so that neither one would get killed?

He was also still recovering from the death of his wife, didn’t want his kid to be a violent psycho, maybe he was tired of running and fighting, and that’s why he was trying to talk the Gov into resolving stuff?

I would imagine after spending several months on the run, low on food, running into violent gangs, your wife being killed, you’d be pretty sick and tired of fighing and running. Andrea felt that way… that was why she opted to stay in Woodbury, because Woodbury meant settling, no more running, steady food, roof over your head, etc.

It’s easy to say “just shoot the guy in his face” anytime he runs into opposition, but after months of that stuff, my guess is, the idea of farming and kicking back at night and reading a book at a campfire sounds appealing.

Beth was getting Daryl to bid farewell to his abusive, cruddy upbringing. Burning the cabin down symbolized that, since Daryl had previously told her that cabin was similar to the home he grew up in as a kid.

TigerPaw on April 1, 2014 at 12:38 AM

It took me watching that episode 3 times before I realized it wasn’t Darryl’s house

Why didn’t Carl just shoot the guy outside of the car? He’s got a gun. He’s killed before. It would have given Rick and the others their opening to kick ass.

Mitoch55 on March 31, 2014 at 9:06 PM

Yeah, I wasn’t totally clear on that, either, except I’m pretty sure a few shots showed a firearm on the dash in the front of the car, and Carl was in the back.

Maybe we’re meant to assume Carl did not have his firearm on him, or was too shocked/ scared to react, or he saw that Joe had a gun to his father’s head and felt if he acted that it meant instant death for his dad? I don’t know.

Thanks for sharing that for the TD averse. I figured Terminus cannot just harvest everyone who wanders in–wastes too unrecoverable knowledge of the beforetime. Bob’s medical training (pharmacist?) should preclude him (Or Rainman/blasterMaster) from the dinner plate, giving him the chance to die for Rick–like everyone will at some point.

derit on March 31, 2014 at 9:07 PM

You know what too.

Based on what in read of the comics on WD Wiki, one reason these cannibal guys prey on humans is that they are incompetent at hunting animals.

If that is so, and the show does not veer from the comics, they now have Daryl and Rick, who know something about hunting animals. They can have Daryl hunt deer and Rick catch rabbits.

Unless the show adds a religious element to the human cannibalism, of course… but if it’s strictly, “We are too inept to bag a deer, so we eat people” situation, they no longer have an excuse. Daryl can teach them to hunt.

Remember Daryl, even from early on, when he was a lot more grumpy, would share his deer kills and squirrel meat with Rick and strangers. Back on the prison, he was hailed as a hero for providing venison.

2. Who the hell wears a poncho in Georgia? I’ve lived in the South my whole life and I have yet to see anyone wear one that wasn’t plastic with a picture of a cartoon mouse on it.

John Deaux on March 31, 2014 at 9:30 PM

The poncho originally belonged to Daryl. I don’t know why he had a poncho. Glenn later packed it in his backpack (it was left over at the prison after the attack by the Gov), and gave it to Maggie later.

One of my pet peeves about the show that I mentioned on an earlier thread.

I realize one reason the show does this is to save money (it costs too much to do full body zombie make-up on all the extras, I understand), but…

I have lived all over the nation, including many years in the south, where it gets hotter than hell.

And some parts get very humid. I notice that the zombies are always wearing long skirts (if ladies), and both men and lady zombies are in long sleeved button down shirts. These were normal people before they turned into zombies.

The characters (Rick and other living people) walk around in long sleeve shirts, long pants, boots, and what appear heavy material.

Actor Norman Reedus did say in some interview that in some of the morning shots, it can be very cold in Georgia (where the show is filmed), but other than that, it’s hotter than hell rest of the year.

All the years I lived down south, if I had to be outdoors, I was in t shirts and shorts and sneakers/ sandals, not long pants, boots, long sleeved shirts.

It just bugs me to see all these zombies and living people in Georgia in summer months when it’s over 100 degrees out in heavy, warm clothing, because IMO, that is not very realistic. I’ve only seen one character in shorts (the new one, that Rosita girl with Abraham).

Just get rid of Coral. He’s become what I hate about chirrun – a mouthy punk.

Lanceman on March 31, 2014 at 10:34 PM

Carl was a brat in that one episode where he screamed at a knocked-out Rick, “I don’t need you anymore,” but later in the episode, when he thought dad (Rick) had turned into a zombie, he fell apart and cried and said he realized he still needed dad. I think he learned his lesson then. Also had that lesson re-enforced when Joe Claim Gang showed up with guns.

I read the same rumor but can’t tell if it’s true. I looked up some screen captures from the show, but I don’t see one of Beth in a greyish colored sweater like the BBQ Terminus lady was wearing.

TigerPaw

The sweater Beth was wearing was the same style of sweater as the BBQ lady, but her sweater was one consistent color of grey whereas the BBQ lady’s had different shades of gray….but not 50 shades of gray. :)

Rape has been a peripheral issue, with only the threat utilized in the story thus far. Its glancing treatment comprised of Shane’s hesitation, the Philly slob’s intimation, and the Gov’s interrogation.

Maggie’s trauma-induced detachment after escaping the Gov quickly morphed into frustration about Glenn’s subsequent overcompensation, which defused the possibility of her psyche having sustained damage. As an earlier commenter noted, Beth could endure sex slavery by a third group to reintroduce that variety of anguish.

It’s difficult to picture Morgan as Beth’s abductor, with only the scant graffiti on the dead in the golf clubhouse as a possible clue. Cars are conspicuous by their absence in the Terminus alleys–unless the switchyard has shuttle service.

Rick’s group needs an unstable wildcard back in the deck now that he and Michonne have reshuffled their psychological hands, so Morgan’s return or Beth’s derangement be dealt with next season. As much as it pains me to lose that fair twentysomething, a strong move would cast her fate into mystery, as the handicapped couple were lost before Rick banished Carol.

And Morgan could be among the captives in Terminus shipping containers.

No matter how difficult the situation, no matter how implausible that anyone could survive it, Rick’s coming out alive. Absorb this: You had a gang of battle-hardened men armed to the teeth ambush him, Michonne, and Carl, hold guns held to their temples, and actually begin a countdown to blowing Rick’s brains out — and somehow Rick’s entire crew emerged unscathed while the rednecks were disarmed and slaughtered. They might as well have had a bullet bounce off his chest.

So now we’re kvetching because the show about zombies is not REALISTIC! You’re demanding that your escapist entertainment to be believable? OK, fine.

I think the whole redneck squad was just a way to get a new batch of weapons into ricks hands. As every time something goes south they run away half naked.
I mean rEALLy folks, they never heard of supply stash’s or even do a homeless guy trick of a shopping cart. A shopping cart can carry a lot of food weapons n ammo as you go down the road.

And after the prison got overrun, why did they not regroup and fix the fence and clear it out, being the GOV was dead

why did they not, if abandoning the prison go back to morgan, he has lots of guns, ammo and a secure site.

why if rick was paranoid enough to bury a bag of weapons not leave say Darryl and Carl outside terminus, and go inside for a recon.

So now we have to wait until october for tyreese n Carol to do a distraction so rick can jump a guard and get a weapon to kill more terminus guards for more weapons, meanwhile loosing a few red shirt members of the cast.

Well i think they will do that but first the terminus folks are going to play games and do a “look at how cool we got it here, but you gonna die, villian gloating”.

I checked Twitter after the show expecting to find grumbles about how nothing was resolved, no one died, and we didn’t find out a thing about the big mystery of Terminus after a season-long tease, but all it was was a bunch of “CAN’T EVEN CATCH MY BREATHE” [sic] tweets. The ratings are stratospheric. Nothing’s going to change. Why would it?

My guess is a lot of the people who watch this show do not watch shows on premium channels (or haven’t figured out how to by other means)and have only experience “network” shows. It’s like cable news and network news. Even though cable news is far superior, far more people still watch network news…they don’t know any better.

AP is just now figuring out Rick is the main character of the show and won’t die…unless it’s in the series finale. I had that figured out from ep 1.

Yeah, I know I said I wouldn’t post in these threads anymore – but I’m thinking of starting a blog thread devoted to criticizing L&O SUV, a show I used to watch but don’t enjoy anymore. I need AP to show me how it’s done.

I’ll have to catch the three or four years of episodes I’ve missed with a marathon of self-inflicted misery via Netflix, but I love to complain about things!

As for the Walking Dead finale, I enjoyed it. I agree the rabbit trap metaphor was a bit heavy-handed, but I never thought this show was serious drama. I bet their escape from Terminus will not happen in just one episode, and they will probably lose someone. I’m betting it will be the ultra-hot sidekick of the red-haired military guy. It would be too easy to off the rainman guy who supposedly has all the answers (and is probably an idiot).

And so, after three seasons of yelling at Rick for not being more pragmatic/survivalist like Shane was or Carol became, we witness Rick going from a person who is trying to Grow Crops and, in the process, Teach Carl Life Skills; through the death of all his peacemaker friends and the destruction of their pseudo-utopia; through his encounter with Joe et al that he escapes only by setting a zombie trap; to the point where he finally embraces the monster within and the fact that the survivors frequently pose a greater danger than the zombies.

And as a reward for going through a development arc and emerging as someone who acknowledges the brutal realities of the world he’s given versus the world he wanted, the complaint is that, despite the writers bringing him to the place where more than a few people here wanted him to be from the start, self-defense didn’t constitute “enough” of a mental break, and/or the main character didn’t die.

Cause, you know, that’s what TV shows need: 24 without Jack Bauer, Grey’s Anatomy without Meredith Grey, How I Met Your Mother without Ted Mosby (because how “pioneering” would it be to have the main character die, even though the entire premise of the show is him narrating to his children about how he met their mother, but surprise!, the shocking twist is that he died before meeting her, and the entire show was just a vision, Lost-style, of what life with a wife and kids would be like had he lived).

So now we’re kvetching because the show about zombies is not REALISTIC!

MJBrutus on April 1, 2014 at 7:37 AM

What do you mean, “now”? Have you read the other grumble threads?

It just bugs me to see all these zombies and living people in Georgia in summer months when it’s over 100 degrees out in heavy, warm clothing, because IMO, that is not very realistic.

TigerPaw on April 1, 2014 at 1:05 AM

I dunno, I think I’d want as much of anything as I can get between my flesh and zombie teeth.

I like the grumble threads because I like reading about it here on HotAir, but Allah, man, as others have mentioned, what would be the point in killing off the main characters. if you are going to do that, it had better be the last episode of the last season, because if it isnt, it soon will be when you start up again and no one watches.

Rick, Daryl (can you imagine the rage if Daryl dies….oooof), even Glenn, Maggie , Carl, Carol, Michonne are all more or less off limits. In my opinion, Daryl is actually a bigger no-no than Rick.

They *MIGHT* get away with killing a Carol (Tyrese, Bob and possibly Sasha are as good as dead)possibly a Glenn/Maggie, but Rick and Daryl are here until the show is over.

I thought the episode was riveting and picked up a slow season and left me waiting to see exactly how Captain Kickass does it. Yes, it was wholly unrealistic, from the redneck aspect to the Terminus aspect, but as I have said in other forums and on facebook… if this was real life, these folks would have been long dead because of the idiotic decisions they have made. They are alive in spite of their decisions, not because of them.

I don’t think there’s been another show on American television that’s had its main character commit suicide. This would have been pioneering.

Well, there’s Canadian television. No suicide, but wow.

Season Finale of Lost Girl is next Monday on SyFi. I would say spoiler alert, but every fan around the world probably already knows what’s coming because it already aired in Canada and there are Youtube vids all over the place.

We had a Lost Girl party for the season finale and the entire room was stunned/silent at the end.

I’ve never seen a show where the writers decided to rip the heart and soul out of the series….and then proceeded to do it.

AP, I just don’t get it. You know this is a TV show that is based on something else, correct? Why do you continue to critique the show as if it exists in a vacuum and the writers are making decisions about the show for its own sake? I’ve said before, if you are going to comment on TWD TV show, you have to have at least a passing familiarity with TWD comic books. The almost-assault on Carl, a bold move? Not really. Since it happened in the comic book, it was bound to show up on TV eventually. It’s not like the writers suddenly decided, “hey, wouldn’t it be cool if … we have the rednecks Daryl is hanging with try to gang-rape Carl in front of Rick!”

KMav on April 1, 2014 at 12:02 AM
I disagree. I think Carl was trigger happy, young, afraid, inexperienced.

TigerPaw on April 1, 2014 at 12:03 AM

Couldn’t disagree more, the kid wasn’t surrendering, the kid was eyeballing them back and forth as he feigned surrendering his weapon.

Based upon:
1) Confirmed agrressor (by attacking the group with lethal means)
2) Hand on the trigger.
3) Muzzle pointed in my direction.(even while “lowering” it)
4) Not complying with the order to drop his weapon

It was a split second call that Carl made to shoot the kid. He gave him several moments to surrender the weapon and he didn’t.

If Carl was trigger happy, there wouldn’t have been any warning.

I believe the purpose of that scene was to show that Carl had the sack to be able to kill to survive/defend his people..

Burning the cabin down symbolized that, since Daryl had previously told her that cabin was similar to the home he grew up in as a kid.

I see your point, and an emotionally fraught Daryl, a guy I see as normally uninterested with self-reflection, could be receptive to the idea at that moment. But to further illuminate how foolish their decision was, a woodsman and a farm girl know better than to willingly start a foot race with a wildfire.

It’s been mentioned before, but bears repeating. TWD flirts with disaster if it overdraws on the finite credit the viewers allow it, that credit being the suspension of disbelief that TWD is our world with the undead at the top of the food chain as the one supernatural exemption. The phenomena of super-warriors Michonne, Rick, and Daryl may provide short term entertainment, but at an ultimate cost to show each time lady fortune floats them loans to save all their fates. At some point an account or two must be closed. Or at the very least, they should come across living foes whom they cannot ultimately overcome but must run from.

In an old Frasier episode, the radio shrink and his brother return home from a fancy dinner; both aesthetes are pleased with the near excellent experience–but they’re even happier afterwards for the chance to nit pick the one flaw that kept the meal from attaining perfection. They would defend this behavior by saying a high quality product needs a more refined critic to improve it, someone whose discerning palate picks up clues many others miss. Which brings a witty epigram to my mind, as a common man…

Or at the very least, they should come across living foes whom they cannot ultimately overcome but must run from.

You mean, like maybe if one of them rolled up in a tank, slaughtered most of their numbers, destroyed the fortification they called home for nearly a year, and scattered them to the four winds for several weeks.?

AP, you missed a major point. Yeah the show is about Rick largely, not totally, but they are dropping breadcrumbs you’re missing completely.

Rick is an addict. Not to drugs, to violence. That was made clearer in this episode than in any other. I expect eventually we’re going to find out just what kind of marriage he had, and how many times his wife bumped into doors ‘accidentally’.

He’s put that in it’s place within his character now, that is to say he’s learned how to use it better, but only if he can control it. There are times when the chains need to come off that beast, and this episode is packed with exactly that….Ricks’ beast being let loose, and Rick coming to terms with it being useful.

Ole’ Ricky Grimes isn’t going to sit around and be a punching bag now, not while his kid is being prepped for the bar-b-que by a bunch of liberals.